The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment for Exxon Mobil corporation in Stanley Cole v. Exxon Mobil Corp. (No. 14-22-00756-CV), a premises liability case involving alleged exposure to olivine dust. The...more
On December 14, 2023, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved an emergency temporary standard (ETS) intended to enhance protection of workers from the hazards of respirable crystalline silica...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that OSHA has launched a new initiative focused on enhancing enforcement and providing compliance assistance to protect workers from the hazards of silica....more
Last year, we highlighted Iowa’s groundbreaking law to end over-naming of defendants in asbestos and silica litigation. Now, just a year later, three more states have followed suit: North Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia....more
Prop 65 Counsel: What To Know - California Issues Prop 65 Crystalline Silica Safe Use Determination: Four Woodwise products not required to warn for exposure - Chemical Watch - California’s Office of Environmental...more
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued an October 7th news release stating it cited Liberty Casting Company (“Liberty”) for certain alleged violations. Liberty is stated to operate...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA has recently issued a Frequently Asked Questions for General Industry for the Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard. We had noted previously in the blog that most of the provisions of the...more
On January 22, 2019, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to provide guidance to general industry employers on OSHA’s final rule regulating occupational exposure...more
One of the first items OSHA will request during a silica enforcement inspection will be the written exposure control plan. OSHA will also likely request training records regarding the plan and interview employees in order to...more
In March 2016, OSHA published its standards for respirable crystalline silica in general industry/maritime (29 C.F.R. § 1910.1053) and in construction (§ 1926.1153), both of which have been phased in. ...more
OSHA Publishes New Construction Industry Silica Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). With no fanfare whatsoever, OSHA supposedly began enforcing the new Silica Standard on July 23. Compliance with most of the Standard’s...more
Workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica (breathable silica dust) are at an increased risk for developing lung cancer, silicosis, incurable lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Crystalline...more
On June 23, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) implemented one of the final legs of a new rule limiting worker exposure to crystalline silica (or simply “silica”). ...more
OSHA has just released a Memorandum on the Enforcement Launch for the Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard in General Industry and Maritime rules....more
In 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced new respiratory silica exposure levels that lowered the action level for exposure to 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The maximum permissible exposure...more
For construction employers facing uncertainty on exactly how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is enforcing the new silica standard in Construction, we now have a little bit of data that helps shed some...more
Nearly 2.3 million people in the United States work in jobs that expose them to silica. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) claims that more than 100,000 of those workers are engaged in “high risk jobs such...more
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently promulgated a new rule for respirable crystalline silica, with compliance obligations for the general industry beginning on June 23, 2018. Some industries...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA has just released several fact sheets applicable to industries regulated under the Crystalline Silica Standards in Construction Rule....more
On Friday, December 22, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected all of American industry’s many challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) new silica dust...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a win for labor, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals orders the remand of the Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction and General Industry (Silica Rule) for OSHA to explain its decision to omit medical...more
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta fielded a range of questions on the DOL's priorities during a November 15 hearing before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Although members of the Committee inquired about...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA has recently published “Small Entity Compliance” Guides for the new Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction and General Industry....more
On October 19, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued Interim Enforcement Guidance for enforcing the Respirable Crystalline Silica in Construction Standard, 29 CFR 1926.1153. OSHA began...more
Full enforcement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new respirable crystalline silica rule in the construction industry began on October 23, 2017, according to the agency. The silica rule is one of the...more